Mr. October Jeers Juicers



Terrence Moore lets Reggie Jackson sound off in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution :

"You know what?" said Jackson, "the more I think about this, the more I'm going to talk about it right now. You [Selig] haven't done anything about the situation, so why wouldn't you want me to say something about it?"

"Somebody definitely is guilty of taking steroids, but if we [baseball veterans] speak the truth and show our concern, it's like, 'Oh, they're just whining,' " said Jackson, adding that he agrees with Hank Aaron that this is another Black Sox scandal.

"Come on, now. You can't be breaking records hitting 200 home runs in three or four seasons. The greatest hitters in the history of the game didn't do that," said Jackson, referring to Bonds, supposedly a chiseled miracle at nearly 40.

Although Bonds spent the early part of his career as primarily a line-drive hitter, he now is just two home runs shy of his godfather, Willie Mays, for third place on the all-time list with 660. Then comes Ruth at 714 and Aaron at 755, and Jackson clenched his teeth.

"Henry Aaron never hit 50 in a season, so you're going to tell me that you're a greater hitter than Henry Aaron?" Jackson said. "Bonds hit 73 [in 2001], and he would have hit 100 if they would have pitched to him. I mean, come on, now. There is no way you can outperform Aaron and Ruth and Mays at that level.

"There is a reason why the greatest players of all time have 500. Then there is that group that is above 550. There is a reason for that. Guys played 19, 20, 25 years. They had 9,000 to 10,000 at-bats, and it was the same for everybody."

Then Jackson said softly, "Now, all of a sudden, you're hitting 50 when you're 40."

"Why wouldn't you ask me or Aaron or somebody like that to give you some insight?" said Jackson, almost pleading. "Bud is a nice guy, but he doesn't know what's happening here. You have Bob Gibson out there, Sandy Koufax and Johnny Bench. If you're [Selig], why wouldn't you ask them for help? You [Selig] haven't done it right."



(must..kill...the queen...)


So when does Jimmy Leyland say that Reggie is just jealous of Barry?

Posted: Thu - March 11, 2004 at 11:41 AM      

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